Whose your daddy?

They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. - John 8:39-44 (KJV)

Your father is determined and/or detected NOT by who does the most things for you or whose bloodline you are from, but who you act like.

The Pharisees said Abraham was their father, but Jesus countered that couldn't be true because they were not acting like Abraham.

They, then, said God was their father but Jesus countered that if that was true they would love him. He then told them who their real daddy was - the devil; and the acorn does not fall far from the tree.

All humans are not all children of God, we are children of the one we act like, and the only way to change fathers is by being born again (John 3:3)

So the question remains to be answered: Whose your daddy?

- Fritz

Some things are just, simply beneath us!

"That..God...may give you the spirit...that ye may know...what is the exceeding greatness of his power..which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named...in this world...(and)...in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet..." - Parts of Ephesians 1:17-22 (KJV)

Those in Christ have no problem believing that Jesus is now above all authorities, powers, and kingdoms, both good and evil, but it is the next verse we need to understand!

God...hath quickened us together with Christ...and hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" - Ephesians 2:4-6 (KJV)

If Jesus is seated next to the Father, with all dominions under his feet, AND we are seated with him then, obviously, we would have God's ear and are also above those same dominions. We are NOT the victims of our circumstances, but the victors.

Maybe this is why Paul describes himself, in Ephesians 3:1, NOT as a prisoner of Rome (where he happened to be in chains) but, instead, a "the prisoner of Jesus Christ...". It wasn't the guard keeping him there, it was Jesus. For grins, read Acts 12:1-25. Paul happened to be in Jerusalem at the time and saw it all happen.

Never again shall I say I am doing well under the circumstances! I am doing well over those circumstances for I am seated with Christ.

- Fritz

Patrikin - Related through The Father (God): Depends on what the meaning of "is" is.

Truth is Not Freedom To All

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins...Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. - John 8:24,31-32 (KJV)

The oft quoted verse, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" was not said to all, as it is generally quoted by the world. It was said to a select few - the ones who believed on him. For others, truth will be anything but known, and anything but freeing.

Neither does knowing the truth come automatically. Jesus added an "IF / THEN" context which is, likewise, often omitted in quotations. He said "If ye continue in my word, then you are my disciples...and ye shall know...and it shall make you free".

- Fritz

Beware this argument!! It's a ruse!

Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. - John 7:47-52 (KJV)

The argument used to discredit Jesus was if any of their group believed in him, NOT whether what he said and did was true.

In fact, at least one of them, Nicodemus, did believe, but had he stood up and proclaimed his belief he probably would have been kicked out of the group (see John 9:22) and the comment would then be made again and the process repeated. If what Nicodemus told Jesus is to be believed ("We know you are teacher from God..."-John 3:2) there were probably others.

Whenever their argument is made there is a ruse going on! You see the same thing among many groups, today, who likewise don't want to deal with truth.

"Do any credible scientist believe this or that?! Yes? Well we will make sure they are kicked out and no longer credible, no longer have tenure, no longer have a job, then we'll ask our question again!"

Stick with the TRUTH, it will keep you safe with God every time, beware anyone or any argument that lets it go.

- Fritz

The Winston Churchill Philosophy...

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." - Winston Churchill

The same should also be said about one's own belief system!

- Fritz

In defence of Jesus' brethren...

His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. For neither did his brethren believe in him. - John 7:3-5 (KJV)

In defence of Jesus' natural siblings, it must not have been easy having him as their eldest brother.

Can you imagine the feeling of being told all your life, "Why can't you be more like your brother?!"

Sibbling rivalry occurs even in the best of homes.

- Fritz

Offence not always the wrong course of action...

These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? ....And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. - John 6:59-60, 65-66 (KJV)

Many church going Christians have expressed concern about being too open and too bold about their faith saying they don't want to be responsible for driving people away from Christ.

While we should not be obnoxious, the fear of something we say or do driving people away from Christ is, perhaps, unfounded. Someone taking offence at something we say or do may not mean we did something wrong; perhaps it means we did something exactly right.

We could be left being more concerned than Jesus about who came to him and who didn't. We shouldn't hide our light under a bushel (Matthew 5:15) because someone may get angry and refuse to come to it.

Sometimes our stated concern about not wanting to push someone away from Christ is really a concern about them pushing away from us and the possible consequences to ourselves rather than to the cause of Christ.

- Fritz.